Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford announced Monday that goalie Cam Ward has been diagnosed with a third-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament and is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks, which could take him to the end of the regular season.

Carolina leads the Southeast Division with 25 points, four more than Winnipeg in the same amount of games played (21).

Ward was injured midway through the second period of Carolina's 3-2 win over Florida on Sunday. He is 9-6-1 with a 2.84 goals-against average and .908 save percentage this season.

Ellis, who replaced Ward on Sunday, has appeared in seven games and is 3-2-1 with a 2.53 GAA and .923 save percentage.

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I don't have a crystal ball. Predicting is a real complicated thing. If we stay healthy, have enough depth and get the good goaltending we think we're going to have, you can go all the way. But a lot of things have to happen. There's going to be a lot of teams that think the same thing. Everyone made deals. We're all are optimistic about where we'll end up.

— Rangers general manager Glen Sather after being asked if he's constructed a team that can win the Stanley Cup before their 4-1 win against the Predators on Monday